Storytime: Kites

This storytime was for a preschool-aged group at my library.

Read Aloud Books

Someone Bigger Written by Jonathan Emmet, illustrated by Adrian Reynolds

Chosen primarily for my flannel activity today, this chronicles a boy's repeatedly shot down efforts to hold the kite's string. His dad says no, even after being swept up in the air. The firemen say no; even the animals say no--they need someone bigger! The rhyming scheme is good, and the kids can join in every time someone says "someone bigger!"

Stuck Written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

It's Oliver Jeffers, so it's amazing. A boy gets his kite stuck in the tree so he throws his shoe at it to knock it out. It get's stuck. Well how about the other shoe. Stuck. A cat? Stuck. Well he just keeps finding things bigger until... Well, you should read it. And the kids loved it; they were laughing so hard.

Love Is in the Air Written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske

I tagged this one onto the end because we had some extra time and I actually think it's pretty cute. A kite flies by a balloon that's tied down and wants him to join her high in the sky. He breaks his string and they have a roaring time. But the balloon keeps going up... How will they stay together? It's cute. I like it.

Songs and Rhymes

Hello Song

Song: "I Like Kites"

(Tune: Three Blind Mice )

I like kites, I like kites.

They fly high, they fly high.

They keep on spinning round and round,

Sometimes they even touch the ground,

They fly through the air without a sound.

Oh, I like kites!

Song: "My Kite"

(Tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

My kite is up so high,

My kite is up so high,

Oh my—just watch it fly

My kite is up so high.

My kite is falling down,

My kite is falling down,

Oh no—it's down so low

My kite is falling down.

The wind has caught my kite,

The wind has caught my kite,

What fun—I'm on the run

The wind has caught my kite.

My kite is up so high,

My kite is up so high,

Oh my—just watch it fly

My kite is up so high.

Song: Now It’s Time to Fly Our Kites (with scarves)

(Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Now it's time to fly our kites

Fly our kites, fly our kites

Now it's time to fly our kites

On this windy day.

Now our kites go up, up, up

Down, down, down, up, up, up

Now our kites go up, up, up

On this windy day.

Now our kites all around

All around, all around

Now our kites go all around

On this windy day.

Song: Make a Circle

(we used scarves for the actions)

Goodbye Song

Games and Activities

Flannel Board: Someone Bigger!

Today's flannel idea comes straight from the first book we read, Someone Bigger. I handed out the characters to some of the kids beforehand, and then, as I was reading the book, the child would pin their character to the kite. It was slightly chaotic and made for a slow story, but it was okay.

I ended up tracing each character from the book (our library doesn't have a scanner...yet) and coloring them in. I laminated them in hopes of them lasting longer. The idea came from here.

Here are some close-ups...

And our hero:

Craft: Kites

I wanted the kids to design their own little kites! Nothing fancy, but they had fun running around with them at the end.

Here's the coloring page I created for it:

Other Book Ideas

Days with Frog and Toad Written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel

Henry & The Kite Dragon Written by Bruce Edward Hall, illustrated by William Low

Kite Day Written and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

The Story of Kites Written by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by YongSheng Xuan